America is perhaps the most science and technology dependent of all
countries. Yet its citizens are arguably among the least
scientifically literate of all western countries. Various polls
have reported that roughly half of Americans do not think that
evolution accounts for the existence of human beings, 67% have had
psychic experiences, 52% think that the position of the stars and
planets can predict things about their lives, and so on. In this
course we will examine how and why people believe things that are
demonstrably false and do not believe things that are demonstrably
true. We will investigate how the human brain can be the
substrate for our ability to understand the material world as well as
our inclination to embrace the irrational. We will confront the
assaults on free inquiry from both the left (e.g. genetic determinism,
post-modernism) and the right (e.g. creationism, faith-based
politics). Central to this course will be an
examination of the impact of American anti-intellectualism on our
ability to govern ourselves democratically and on our capacity to use
science to lessen human suffering.

“All our science, measured against reality, is primitive
and childlike-and yet it is the most precious thing
we have.” Albert Einstein